Elon Musk says his Wisconsin Supreme Court advocacy is to prevent Democrats from redrawing districts

With less than a week to go, the Wisconsin Supreme Court election between the conservative option, Brad Schimel, and the liberal option, Susan Crawford, is heating up. 

With an $18 million worth of contributions from the richest man on earth, Elon Musk, the race has become the most expensive judicial election in American history. Liberal donors like the Wisconsin philanthropist Lynde Uihlein and billionaire George Soros have also thrown their hat in the ring. The pair have combined to donate some $8.2 million in total. 

Such spending outpaces the previous record holder: The 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, wherein the liberal judge Janet Protasiewicz defeated the conservative Daniel Kelly by 11 percentage points. 

In total, campaign finance experts have projected that $81 million has been collectively spent on the race. That would be almost double the amount spent in the Protasiewicz-Kelly race.

Musk stated he is concerned about the race because a liberal majority on the court could overturn Wisconsin’s notoriously gerrymandered districts — the Princeton Gerrymandering Project rates the state as an “F” in partisan balance, stating that the current laws create a “significant Republican advantage.”

“In my opinion, that’s the most important thing, which is a big deal given that the congressional majority is so razor-thin. It could cause the House to switch to Democrat if that redrawing takes place” Musk said. 

The tech oligarch, who is a close ally of President Donald Trump and heads the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency,” neglected to mention that he is currently suing the state of Wisconsin over a law that prevents his electric car company, Tesla, from operating as an automobile dealership. A conservative slant to the court would theoretically overturn the law for Musk.

However, those who have analyzed the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s history claim that the real reason behind Musk’s investment is to return the court to its pro-business disposition. 

“I’ve studied the rulings of the Wisconsin Supreme Court for well over a decade, and for most of that time, the court tended to put corporations and employers over workers or consumers.” Billy Corriher, a legal expert with the People's Parity Project, wrote. 

“That has changed in the last couple of years. And now that voters have elected a pro-worker majority, billionaires like Elon Musk are spending big to return a pro-corporate majority to power.”